Recurring invoices
Repeat an issued invoice without recapturing the same lines every period.
A recurring invoice schedules new documents. It isn’t the same as a recurring retainer payment: one repeats document issuance; the other creates a client-authorized monthly payment subscription.
Creating an invoice recurrence doesn’t currently store or automatically charge a payment method. Every new invoice enters collections according to its due date and recorded payments.
Create one from an existing invoice
Open an issued invoice, choose Repeat monthly under More actions, and Cord creates the recurrence and takes you to Invoices › View recurring.
The recurrence the app creates is monthly: it issues on the 1st of each month, due on the issue date (0 credit days). Its internal name is the client’s name or, if there isn’t one, the base invoice’s number. The app doesn’t currently let you change the cadence, day, credit days, or an end date afterwards; from the list you can pause, resume, or delete it.
Cord copies the client, currency, notes, and line snapshot from the issued document. It doesn’t reread current catalog prices, so later Product edits don’t silently alter the schedule.
Calendar and due date
- Cadence: monthly.
- Day of month: the 1st. The issue day never goes past the 28th, so February is never skipped.
- Credit days: 0; each invoice is due on its issue date.
- First issue: Cord calculates the next period from the cadence and day.
- End date: none; the recurrence stays active until you pause or delete it.
A daily process selects active, due recurrences. Sandbox organizations don’t issue recurring documents.
What each run does
Cord first advances the next scheduled date, creates a new draft from frozen lines, calculates its due date, issues through the country’s appropriate document rail, and attempts email delivery in the invoice’s language (the one on the client’s profile or, if it has none, your account’s). Every issue receives its own number and immutable snapshot.
The date advances even when issuance fails. This prevents automatic duplicate invoices. The list exposes Last error so the cause can be corrected; don’t assume it retries the same period every hour.
Manage the list
Open Invoices > View recurring. Pause stops future issues without deleting setup. Resume enables it again when the plan allows. Delete removes the schedule but preserves every issued invoice.
Pausing remains available after a downgrade. Creating, resuming, and each scheduled run validate Pro-or-higher access.
Email failure
An issued invoice remains valid even if email fails. Open it from Invoices and resend; don’t create another recurrence merely to replace delivery.
Common problems
Option is missing. Check Collections permission, Pro-or-higher plan, and that the base invoice was issued.
New catalog price isn’t reflected. The recurrence keeps copied lines. Create a new schedule from an updated invoice for future terms.
Next date moved after an error. This is duplicate protection. Correct the error and decide whether that period needs a manual invoice.
Scheduled-period protection
Cord checks that the recurrence is still active and retains the date and settings read before claiming the period. This prevents two runs from claiming the same issuance or overlooking a concurrent edit or pause. The next date is calculated from the scheduled period and respects the end date. Invalid dates and an end before the start are rejected.
Creating a recurrence does not add automatic charging. If issuance fails, review Last error and the document before repeating it; automatic recovery of every failed period is not implemented.